Water-meter casing



April 20 1926. 1,581,130

E. M. KRUEGER WATER METER CASING Filed Feb. 4, 1924 INVENTOR.

5 MyMq ATTORNEYAT Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL M. KBUEGER, or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB "r0 BADGER METERMANUFACTURING COMPANY, or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

WATER-METER CASING.

Application filed February 4, 1924. Serial No. 690,481.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL M. KRUEGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in VVater-Meter Casings, of whichthe followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in water meter casings. Watermeters are quite frequently exposed to low temperatures and if the watertherein freezes, the outer casings are often broken; These casingsconstitute one of the most expensive parts of the meter and if broken,or distorted, they must be replaced. Even when not frozen the casing issometimes distorted by unequal pressure, such as results from animproper attachment of the bottom plate, it the easing is constructed inaccordance with the prevailing practice heretofore followed.

The objects of my invention are to provide a meter casing which will notbe destroyed if the liquid contents become frozen; which will not bedistorted by an unequal tighten ing of the clamping bolts; in which thebolts will be protected against corrosion; 1n which water ofcondensation will drain away freely without drip-ping upon screwthreaded parts; in which the bolts are received 1n lugs which projectoutwardly from the easing wall and constitute reenforcing trusses forsaid wall in combination with a circular flange at the lower margin ofthe wall, whereby maximum strength is secured in proportion to thematerial used, and whereby the tendency toward distortion under thetension of the clamping bolts is reduced to a minimum.

A further object of my invention is to provide a bottom clamplng platehaving apertured arms to receive the clamping bolts and with theextremity of the arm enlarged V downwardly and adapted to receive thepres sure of the bolt heads or washer members at points exterior to theopening in the main casing.

In the drawings: V

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a meter casing embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a view of the same in reverse and partly in verticalsection, drawn generally to a central plane cutting the inlet port.

Figure 3 is a view of the casing as seen from the underside, with thebottom plate and supported mechanism removed.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the bottom plate in inverted position.

Figure 5 is a View of the bottom plate as seen from the underside.

Like parts are identified by the same ref erence characters throughoutthe several views. I

The body of the casing has a substantially cylindrical wall 1, aspherically rounded portion 2, neck portion 3, and head portion 4,-thelatter containing the 5 registering wheels and dial. The water actuatedmechanism is mounted within the cylindrical portion 1 and this portionis provided with the usual. inlet stud 6 and outlet stud 7.v If desired,the wall 1 may be slightly enlarged,

conically, in a downward direction.

The cylindrical portion 1 is provided at spaced intervals with radiallyprojecting abutments or lugs 8 which preferably have tapering upper endportions 9. These abutments are each arranged in the form of a buttressor truss to support the wall of the casing. The base of each of theselugs rests upon, and forms a part of, an outwardly extending base flange10 which, being formed integrally with the cylindrical wall 1 and withthe lugs 8 and the tapering extensions 9, forms a structure of greatstrength and rigidity. The abutments are arranged in diametricallyopposite pairs and, with the spherically rounded portion 2, constitute,in effect, trusses in the form of an inverted U.

The lugs 8 have threaded sockets extending upwardly therein and closedat their upper ends. These sockets receive the cap screws 11 whichconnect the bottom plate or cap 12 with the casing. The flange 10 andthe lugs 8 overhang these screws and protect them from water whichotherwise would collect upon the screw threads and cause rapidcorrosion. I

The bottom plate 12 is provided with radially projecting arms 13 havingapertures 14 through which the screws 11 pass. The extremities of thesearms are thickened 011 the underside, as indicated at 15 in Figures 4and 5, and these thickened portions receive the clamping pressure of theheads of the screws or bolts. Each of these heads comprises a wrenchreceiving portion 17 and a washer-shaped portion 18. The outer half ofthe latter bears upon the thickened portions 15 of the arms 13 when thescrews or bolts are adjusted to clamping position, and therefore theclamping pressure is primarily applied to the extreme outer ends ofth'e'arins 13. The material of which these arms is composed will yieldslightly if ex cessive pressure is applied to one of the screws orbolts-i e.-if the bolts are not uniformly adjusted into clampingrelation with the plate.

The upper surface of the plate has a central concave portion 20encircled by a flange 21 and the water actuated mechanism is supportedwithin this concave portion of the plate. The flange 21 bears against anan nular shoulder 23 formed at the lower end of the casing wall 1 on theinterior side and a gasket 25 may be interposed between said shoulderand the flange 21 to make a water tight joint. 1

With the above described construction, the meter casing will not bebroken or distorted if the water therein becomes frozen. The sphericallyrounded port-ion 2 will receive the pressure in such a manner as todevelop a tendency toforce the contents of the easing downwardly. Theradial pressure will be resisted by the abutments 8 and the flange 10and this resistance will be much greater than that of the bottom plateor that of its radial arms 13. Therefore, before the wall of the casingbody has been broken or distorted, the arms 13 will break and releasethe bottom bolt. The resistance of the spherically rounded portion 2 ofthe body wall will be such that the mass of frozen material will expanddownwardly and thus break any adhesion at the sides, or any anchorage inthe passageways of the inlet and outlet ports. Therefore, when thebottom breaks, the tendency of the expanding material will be to pushdownwardly through the bottom opening and the pressure upon the wall 1may be substantially wholly relieved if its interior surface isconically enlarged to a slight extent in the downward direction. It willof course be understood that the spherically rounded portion 2 proteetsthe neck portion 3 and head portion from upward pressures. The watercavity of the meter does not extend to the neck This will be apparent onthe screw or bolt heads 17, the necessity for supplying loose washers iseliminated and the application of the clamping pressure directly to theportions 15 of the arms 13 is assured. The arms13 will break before theboltor screw threads will strip or distort. Therefore, the screws orbolts may be readily removed when the bottom plate becomes broken, sincethe engaged portions of the threads are protected against corrosionfronrthe point of initial engagement to. the extreme upper ends of thesescrews or bolts. If grease or equivalent material is applied to thethreads beforethey are screwed in place, it will remain and resistcorrosion indefinitely for the reason that it is not exposed to externalinfluence.

I claim:

1. A meter casing having a water receiving cavity provided with aspherically rounded topwall and a substantially cylindrical side wallprovided with an outwardly extending peripheral base flange and flankedby exterior lugs extending upwardly along the side wall from the baseflange, and hav ing threaded bolt receiving sockets closed at theirupper ends and adapted to receive clamping bolts from beneath.

2. A meter casing comprising the combination of a body portion having awater receiving cavity provided with an outwardly extending peripheralbase flange and flanked by exterior diametrically opposite pairs oflngsextending upwardly from the base flange along the wall of the bodyand integrally connected with said flange and body wall, a detachablebottom plate pro- .terior diametrically opposite pairs of lugs extendingupwardly from the base flange along the wall of the bodyand integrallyconnected with said flange and body wall, a detachable bottom plateprovided with radially extending apertured arms, clamping boltsextending through the apertures of said arms and having threadedengagement in said lugs, said lugs having threaded sock ets closed attheir upper ends and adapted to receive said bolts, and the arms of saidbase plate being thickened at their outer ends and adapted to receivethe clamping pressure of the bolt heads exterior to the axial centers ofthe bolts.

4. Ameter casing comprising the combination of a body portion providedwith a water receiving cavity, an exterior peripheral base flange, and aspherically rounded top portion; said body also having integral end ofthe body and provided with radial- 1y extended apertured arms of minimumstrength intermediate their ends, clamping bolts extending through theapertures of said arms and socketed in said lugs at points exterior tothe wall of the body,saidclamping bolts being engaged with theirrespective base plate arms near the outer extremities of said arms andbeyond their zones of greatest weakness.

5. A meter casing comprising the combination of a body portion providedwith a water receiving cavity, an exterior periplr eral base flange, anda spherically rounded top portion; said body also having integralexterior lugs extending upwardly from the base flange and adapted toresist expanding pressures against the side walls of the body, a bottomplate adapted to close the lower end of the body and provided withradially extended apertured arms of minimum strength intermediate theirends, clamping bolts extending through the apertures of said arms andsocketed in said lugs at points exterior to the wall of the body, saidclamping bolts being engaged with their respective base plate arms nearthe outer extremities of said arms and beyond their zones of greatestweakness, said arms having their extremities enlarged downwardly andsaid bolt heads having washer-shaped portions of which the partsradially remote from the center of said bottom plate bear against theenlarged portions of the arms and exert their clamping pressure atpoints beyond the body wall of the casing. V

6. A meter casing having a cup-shaped body opening toward its bottom andprovided at peripherally spaced points about said opening with radiallyprojecting lugs, said body being formed integrally to provide buttressesconnected with said lugs and tapering upwardly therefrom, wherebyexteriorly to truss said body, and a bottom plate clamped to the saidlugs.

7. A meter casing comprising unitarily a cup-shaped body adapted tohouse the working parts of a meter and provided with a spherlcallyrounded inner end, and a series of buttresses projecting radially fromsaid body, said buttresses being formed to merge with said body adjacentthe rounded end thereof and to extend with increasing radial projectionand size toward the opposite end of said body, whereby exteriorly totruss said body and increasinglyto re-enforce said body at points remotefrom its spherically rounded end.

8. A meter casing comprising a tubular wall integrally provided with adome-shaped head and with an open end encircled by a peripheral flange,radially projecting lugs formed integrally with said wall and saldflange and provided with downwardly opening screw holes, said lugs beingupwardly tapered toward the wall of said casing adjacent saiddome-shaped head, whereby said lugs and said flange co-operate with saidhead to comprise a truss structure for re-- enforcing said tubular wall.

EMIL M. KRUEGER.

